The palace infirmary was empty save for Father Nathan, the last priest of Tyr Dorna called to tend to Trix. He stood the moment Cage walked in, rubbing his palms on his dark gray robe.
"Your Majesty." He sunk into a deep bow.
Cage gritted his teeth. "Raise, Father. I need you to tell me your assessment of the patient." His eyes darted to Trix who lay on the cot, his eyes closed, body tense. He'd lost so much weight, it was a wonder he was still alive.
"There are dark forces battling inside him," Father Nathan said. "I could not assess if he is still in there or has been overcome."
It was the same answer the other priests had given, so while disappointed, Cage wasn't surprised. The vague diagnosis was still confusing. Cage knew what Trix's powers did. His touch drained the powers of his victims and also gained their knowledge and memories. It was true that if he wasn't careful, he could kill his target and also take too much of their essence and be overwhelmed. But this time, Cage had seen what had happened. Trix had touched Kat for only a moment, draining some of her mad energy. And yet, he'd collapsed and hadn't awakened in over a month.
"What would you have me do?" Father Nathan asked.
"Nothing, Father. I think it is quite clear that there is nothing else you can do." He sat on the chair next to the cot. Even if he'd sounded so sure of himself, he knew he had to approach the situation differently than he had when he'd healed Jinx's burns.
"Excuse me, your Majesty, but what do you plan on doing?" Father Nathan hovered over his shoulder.
Cage found it incredibly annoying, but he was aware he couldn't be outright rude to members of the clergy. Whether he believed in the gods or not, his people did, and being known as a heretic was the last thing he needed.
"I am going to attempt to rouse him myself." He kept his voice as pleasant as possible.
"How?"
He hoped the question would not come. "This is what I'm trying to figure out." He turned back to Trix, focusing on the micro-muscles of his face, looking for a twitch or any other sign that there was a battle waging inside him. His face seemed completely impassive.
"No disrespect, but does your grace have chirurgical training?"
Because of course that the only other way to fix people was cutting them open. Cage didn't answer and continued to study Trix. It was obvious that he couldn't approach this like an open wound, because it wasn't. He had to consider what he would find once he touched his friend. What was it that he would have to heal? Could he even touch minds, search inside them? And if he found that he could, what could he find in there.
His heart began to beat in a sturdy rhythm. Would he find pieces of Kat in there? The possibility both intrigued and terrified him. Whatever it was in there, he had to face it.
Taking in a deep breath, he places his hands on Trix's temples. Nothing happened which meant that Trix's own magic was still incapacitated. He'd expected that, so he focused his magic and sent it to his hands, seeking access inside his friend's consciousness. Something solid blocked his progress, like a shield hidden deep within his consciousness.
Cage frowned and shut his eyes, intensifying his efforts. The resistance held so he pushed harder.
"Your Majesty?"
The resistance seemed to give and with a final thrust, Cage found himself floating in complete darkness. The silence inside the void pressed on his eardrums and all he could hear was his own labored breathing. Then came the howling wind.
Cage glanced around him, but he couldn't see anything through the void. He knew he was there, but... He wasn't. He forced his mind to acknowledge that he wasn't there. He was in the castle infirmary, sitting on a stool next to Trix's cot. Whatever was happening in the void was inside Trix's head, not his.
"Where are you?" he whispered to himself, glancing around. "Trix?" he called.
There was a flash, as if something had passed very fast before his eyes. By the chill it left behind, Cage knew it wasn't Trix. His muscles tensed and he squinted into the darkness. The flash came again, this time closer to his face, the wind of movement clearly brushing his skin.
But with the sensation, something inside the void seemed to shift. He became aware that he was floating, so he looked down. Even if darkness still consumed the space, he could see a shape underneath him. He forced himself to drift down, keeping his eyes on what he supposed was the ground, while his senses kept alert for any sign of the foreign being rushing around him. The closer he came, he concluded that it was his own reflection which he'd noticed. There was no mirror underneath, but what he supposed could be considered a body of water.
When his feet touched it, it shimmered underneath him, part liquid, part smoke. This substance felt safer than the chill he'd descended from.
"Trix?" he whispered again.
"Cage?"
His friend's voice had Cage turning his head to look behind, but there was nothing there.
"Yes, it's me," he whispered back. "I'm here to get you out."
"You have to get out. Now."
"I'm not leaving without you." He turned a full circle, hoping to see something, but Trix was definitely out of sight.
"You can't be here."
"Neither can you. You're dying."
"Better that I die if that thing dies with me."
"Thing?"
The rushing creature was upon him again, circling him so fast that he could see nothing more than white wisps. The cold accompanying its movements struck him to his very core and he had to once again remind himself that he wasn't really there, but sitting in a warm place.
It's all in my head.
No, it's all in Trix's head. I am safe.
"Are you, though?"
The musical voice stopped his heart. He recognized it, but it was somewhat distorted. Twisted in unnatural ways that made his stomach churn and his chest heave with longing and pain.
"Show yourself!" he demanded.
"Cage, no!"
Trix suddenly appeared. There was an iron cage on the surface of the liquid, one maybe large enough to house a dog. Inside it, his friend lay on all fours, barely fitting. Each time his body touched the bars, it burned his skin as the iron sapped his magic.
Cage just stared, unable to understand how an iron cage could have the same effect inside someone's head. He didn't have time to fully grasp the image before he caught movement in the corner of his eye. He turned brusquely but once again, there was nothing there.
His heart now pounding, he hurried to the cage and crouched in front of it. "How the hell did you get in here?" He touched the bars, but the contact singed his skin and he was forced to pull back instantly.
"Don't touch that," Trix hissed.
"I'm trying to get you out."
"Don't get me out. The cage protects me." There was a half-smile on his face as he acknowledged the irony of the statement given Cage's own chosen name.
"Protects you?" Cage glanced up again, trying to identify the foreign presence.
Slender arms wrapped around his neck and delicate hands settled over his chest. He jumped, but could not free himself from the grasp.
"Save me," Kat whispered in his ear. "Save me from the madness."
He turned right away and she let him, dropping to her usual height, her eyes filled with tears of despair. A rabid pain shocked him as he glanced at her. The delicate lines of her face, the deep light blue of her eyes, her rosy lips... He hadn't seen her in so long, he'd forgotten the minor details of her face.
His stomach heaved and his skin crawled. A shower of guilt came upon him as he watched her. Was this where she'd been all this time? Had Trix stolen her from her body and brought her here and both of them were captive, terrorized by...? He looked upwards again.
"No. Look at me," she whispered.
Even if soft, her voice was like an iron dagger piercing his skin. This was his fault. All his fault. He'd failed her and himself.
"Cage, let her go!" Trix yelled.
"Don't ever let me go," Kat said. "I missed you. I love you."
Any potential words were stuck in his throat. The longer he looked at her, the more he wanted to give her everything. To make up for his mistakes and keep her happy. After all, she was his everything. He'd failed her. He deserved to give his life for her, so that she could be free and happy.
"I'll give you everything," he whispered to her.
She smiled. It wasn't soft. It wasn't joyful. It was hungry. It was cruel.
"Cage!"
Kat's image morphed the tiniest bit, but she resembled someone else Cage once knew. Laila. Lucille.
His skin burned where the image of Kat touched him.
Shit!
He should've seen that coming. Trix had warned him.
You don't have a body in here. There's no pain. He forced reason upon himself and the physical pain stopped enough for him to break contact with the being in front of him.
Kat pouted, her eyes filled with pain. "What are you doing?"
"I'm not playing your games, Lucille. Get the hell out of my friend's head."
Kat tilted her head in confusion, but small changes were still there. Her eyes were the wrong shade of blue. Her lips were a tiny bit fuller. The reaction of his ethereal body was not due to guilt. He was rejecting the vile magic of the former High Fairy. Lucille was using Kat to trap him.
"You can look confused all you want. I know you're not Kat. You tore Kat from me."
Not-Kat grinned and her teeth were sharp like needles. "It's still so much fun to toy with you, your Majesty."
"Fuck off and let Trix go."
The apparition waved her arms. "He locked himself in there. He's free to come out whenever he likes."
As if to prove her right, the cage disappeared and Trix straightened. His eyebrows were bunched and his mouth twisted in a snarl. He lifted his hands and shot a shockwave of magic at the creature.
She danced out of the way, laughing with glee.
"I usually do this until I'm exhausted," Trix said between his teeth. "I always miss."
"Is that why you won't wake up? Because you want to keep this thing in here?"
"Yeah. I don't want her manifesting into the real world through me like Wolfbane did. This thing is worse."
"I won't let you die to protect us."
Trix let out a hollow laugh. "Would you rather we all died at my hand? Can't you see, Cage? I can't be trusted with this thing inside my head."
The creature appeared again, this time its features even sharper and more terrifying. "Is that the best you've got?"
Trix raised his hands to aim another wave at it, but Cage grabbed his wrist.
"Wait, I can't let you hurt Kat."
⚜⚜⚜
Uh oh. What's going on? Is Cage about to succumb to the temptations of that creature? And holy crap, Trix's head is a dangerous place. But yay for wacky adventures. Maybe Cage will find a way to get Trix out.
You also get more lore. Here come the priests! Who apparently aren't very efficient. But anyway.
Hope you're enjoying the story so far so don't forget to vote and comment for support!